Clutch.



W. CHRISTIE. CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED 13120.6, 191s.

' Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

4 BHEBTB-SHBET 1.

W. CHRISTIE. CLUTCH. APPLIOATION FILED DEG. 5,.1913.

1,107,588. Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

F 4 BHEETSSHBET 2.

11/588158 I/E/VTOR v xi a AITOHIVEY W. CHRISTIE. CLUTCH. APPLIOATION rlmqnnno. a, 1913.

1,107,588. Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ATTORNEY HWE8 ES: 4w INVtNTOR I W. CHRISTIE. CLUTCH. APPLIOATIOIF FILED 1330.5, 1913.

Patented Aug 18, 1 4- 4 SHEETSi'BHEET 4.

ATRMWEY I the 'end of the the clutch.

, shown in Fig. .4. Fig. 5

. tails of the clutch releasing springs and their ing specification WALTER onmsrfn, or menwoon PARK,

new JERSEY.

enu'rcn.

arouses.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Aug. is, i914.

Application filed December 5, 1913. Serial No. 804,806.

utilization as above indicated, that shall be effective in operation and extremely com-- pact along the line-of the driving shaft.

Another object is to provide a combined clutch, and flywheel. that shall be particularly adapted for attachment to a transversely arranged driving shaft ofa motor vehicle.

Another object of my invention is to secure the well known advantages incident ,to the use of multiple the usually attendant disadvantages.

Other .objects and advantages of my invention will be set'forth hereinafter. I will describe my'invention in the followand point out the novel features thereof in appended claims. y I Referring to the drawings,-Figure 1 is. a sectionalelevation in the plane of the' shaft of a; clutch constructed in accordance with my invention. A partially sectional elevation of the same clutch looking toward shaft is shown inFig 2. In

this view certain of away to disclose the interior construction.

- Fig. 3. corresponds to Fig. 2 except that this heretaken from the o posite side of A plan view'o the clutch is is a perspective view of th'eclutch. De-

view is of an actuating member cooperating parts are shown on a larger scale in 6 and 7 views of a portion of the clutch near its periphery showing the rojections ositions of the utch mom-- ut'ch is set and when it is 8 .an'd 9 correspond extaken on difierent from that of'Figs. 8 "and 9.

Figs; 8 and The arrangement of the 'elutchand its actution of of my invention is to providedurabl'e clutch, susceptible of threaded projection 12 jacent to the member disk clutches without v "having longitudinal slide axially on the hub the parts are-brokenlarly constructe 9 are sectional Thejclutch wheel 15 'ating mechanism is shown in Fig. 10, the clutch itself. being drawn on a relatively small scale. v

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts 1n all the figures.

10 is a motor or engine shaft having a tapered section 11 near one end and a screw threaded projection 12. Aflixed to the tapered section 11 of the shaft is a relatively massive clutch wheel 15 having a hub 16 provided with a tapered bore which is adapted to fit closely onto the tapered secthe shaft. The wheel 15 is prevented fromrotating relative to the shaft, not only because it fits the shaft closely, but also by a key 17. It is provided with an annular contact surface 25. The wheel hub is held in position against a shoulder 18 of the shaft by a nut 19 which is .screwed onto the flange 20 which engages the opposite end of the wheel hub 16.

Rotatab ly supported on the shaft 10, ad-

15, is a gear wheel 26 having a relatively long hollow cylindrical projection 27 at one side. This projection is provided with a plurality of longitudinal ribs or keys 28 and a clutch member 30 is arranged to slide on it. The member 30 of the clutch' consists of a cylindrical sleeve 31 slots in its inner surface which are engaed by the ribs 28 of the driven member an which is affixed a pair of parallel spaced disks 33 of sheet steel or other suitable resilient material. is clearly such that the 4 j 27 but is precluded from rotating relative thereto by the ribs orkeys 28. astationary case 35 having tion 36 into which the sleeve 31 of the clutch member 30 extends, a running fit being provided between-these two sleeves. A notched cam 38'is mounted a sleeve projecon ,the stationary casing 35 and is adapted to cooperate with a simid rotatable cam 39 which is also mounted on, the sleeve 36but is beyond the stationary cam 38. V

is provided near its periphery. with a, plurality lateral p111 projections 40. These pro ect ons are preferably spaced with uniformity and a ring 41 is mounted to slide on .them, s'tantially. concentric with the member, 15 Beyond the ring" 41 is afirelati'vely massive and has an annular a radial flange 32 to j Protecting the gear wheel 26 is being sub- 11.

' 40 and is concentric j is forced toward clutch is set, the operative mounted on the pins with the member 15. The arrangement of parts is such that the flange 32 is located between the clutch wheel 15 and the disk 42 while the disks 33 are spaced apart by the ring 41 and are also interposed between the members 15 and 42. The pins 40 are sufficiently large to act as guides for the members 41 and 42 which are arranged to slide axially toward and away from the member 15. It is therefore only necessary to force the members 15 and 42 toward each other to set the clutch and cause the member 30 to rotate with the members 15 and 42. This action is accomplished by a circumferential adjustment of the cam 39 which is provided with an arm 45 for attachment to an actuating rod 46 as shown in Fig. 10, a spring 47 being arranged to return the cam to its initial position when redisk42 which is also leased. Since the member 42 is mounted on I the pins 40,

it is rotatable with the wheel 15 and with the motor shaft and consequently when the clutch is released, the disk 42 may be rotating when the cam 39 is at rest.

The members 15 and 42 which have been referred to as relatively massive, are intended to act together as a flywheel and to render a separate flywheel unnecessary. In fact the space occupied by my improved clutch is not materially greater than taken by an ordinary flywheel. I have consequently interposed a ball bearing 50 which takes the thrust existing between these relatively stationary and relatively rotatable members.

The preferred formof the cam 38 is clearly shown in a perspective view, Fig. 5. The cooperating cam 39 is similar to the cam 38 as shown in Fig. 4 but is provided with the projecting arm 45 as shown in Figs. 1 and 10.

The clutch may be set by exerting a pull on the rod 46 and thereby producing a rotative movement of the cam 39 relative to the cam 38. This movement obviously forces the cams apart and the axial thrust thus produced is transferred through the ball bearing 50 to the member 42. This member the clutch member 15 until the-relation of clutch members is as shown in Fig. 8.

Assuming that the nected by suitable which is to be driven, the clutch member 30, together with the disks 33 are adapted to operate independently of the motor shaft when the clutch is released and when the connection from the shaft to the gear wheel (and, in the case assumed, to the axle) is complete.

In order .to avoid-wear and tear and to insure that the clutch parts will operate in dependently of each other without friction gear wheel 26 is congearmg to a vehicle axle when the clutch is released, I provide three or more releasing springs 60 as shown in Fig. 7 which tend to separate the clutch disk 42 from the wheel 15, and three or more springs 61 which tend to hold the members 15 and 41 at a predetermined distance apart.

In order to provide pockets for the spring (30, the clutch members 15 and 41 are providedwith holes (32 and 63 and the member 42 is provided with correspondingly located recesses 64. .Yhen the springs are inserted, screw plugs (35 or other suitable means are utilized to close the out-er ends of the holes (32. The wheel 15 is further provided with holes 66 to receive the springs 61, the springs in this case abutting directly against. the member 41 ,and the outer ends of the holes 66 being closed by plugs 67 which correspond to the plugs 65.

In order'to facilitate disassembling the device, the clutch member 15 is preferably provided with tapped holes 7 0 to receive eye belts or hooks. (Not shown.)

The fact that the axial dimension of the clutch is relatively small, renders the device particularly well adapted for use on a motor vehicle having a transverse motor or engine shaft. In fact, in many instances,'a

"motor vehicle of ordinary size may be equipped with an engine having a transversely disposed shaft if the clutch of my v invention is employed where it would be impossible to employ such an arrangement with any suitable clutches hitherto proposed. Another advantage incident in the use of my invention arises from the fact that the axis of the driving gear wheel is coincident with the axis of the driving motor which as above indicated may be transversely arranged. The axis of the driven gear wheel may consequently be in parallelism with the axle of the vehicle thereby avoiding the necessity for bevel gears or other well known means for driving shafts at an angle to each other.

Variations in size and arrangement of parts maybe effected within the spirit and scope of my invention and I intend that only such limitations be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A. clutch comprising a wheel adapted to be aflixed to a driving shaft, a driven gear wheel having a hollow cylindrical hub projection adjacent to the wheel and rotatably mounted on the driving shaft,.a clutch member having a resilient disk adjacent to the wheel, operatively connected to the gear wheel and slidable on said hollow cylindri cal hub projection, a rigid disk operatively connected to the wheel and axially movable relatively thereto and means for forcing the rigid disk toward the wheel to clamp the resilient clutch disk between the two.

2. A clutch comprising a wheel adapt-ed movable means for toward the wheel to clamp the resilient clutch disk between the two.

axis of the shaft, a

gear wheel having a sleeve projection concentric with clutch member operatively connected to the gear wheel hub rotatably and axially movable within the casin sleeve, a radial flange and a resilient clutc disk secured thereto adjacent to the contact surface of the clutch wheel, a rigid disk concentric with the shaft and slidably mounted on the laterally extending pins of the wheel beyond the resilient clutch disk, an annular cam secured to the stationary gear casing, a cooperating rotatably movable cam on the sleeve projection of the casing and a thrust bearing interposed between the rotatively movable cam and the rigid clutch disk whereby a rotative movement of the cam clutch disk between the contact surface-of the wheel and clamps the resilient clutch disk, between them,

to be affixed to a driving shaft and having an annular contact surface near its periphery, a driven gear wheel having a hollow cylindrical hub projection adjacent to the wheel and rotatably mounted on the driving shaft, a clutch member having a resilient disk adjacent to the annular contact surface of the wheel, operatively connected to the gear wheel, operatively conected to the gear wheel and slidable on said hollow cylindrical hub projection, a rigid disk operatively connected to the wheel and axially movable relatively thereto and circumferentially forcing the rigid disk 3. A clutch comprising a driven shaft having a tapered end portion and a screwthreaded projection, a relatively massive wheel aflixed to the tapered portion of the shaft having a plurality of laterally extending pins near its periphery parallel to the driven gear wheel havof November, 1913.

hand this 28 day WALTER CHRISTIE.

ing a hollow cylindrical hub projection ad" Witnesses: jacent to the wheel and rotatably mounted R, J. DEARBORN, on the shaft, a stationary casing for the F. B. GRAVES.

the hub of the gear wheel, a

forces the ratchet lln witness whereof, lhave hereunto set my 

